Elder Maxwell

I just had to add this from my sister-in-law's blog http://spirituallythinking.blogspot.com/. It is so great. The thoughts at the bottom are hers, not mine.

Elder Neal A Maxwell:

"The heaviest load we feel is often from the weight of our unkept promises and our unresolved sins, which press down relentlessly upon us".

I love this quote because it is so true! We can feel so much more happiness than we do, so much more quickly, if we put off that natural man. The atonement can take an immediate effect upon our hearts if our desires are sincere.
The Saviour loves us and is eager to take the weight from us, I really know this is true.

Humility, one of the ESSENTIALS

I know I have talked about humility so much on the "My Lady" blog, I really believe that humility is so essential to acquiring joy in this life as well as gaining eternal life. We can all talk ourselves into believing we are humble or acting humble, but we each need to learn what humility really is and we as "natural men" don't know what that is. We must pray that we will be shown our weaknesses (Ether 12:27) and as we do this we will be shown what they are; remember that often times our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses. As we pray to Heavenly Father about what our weaknesses are, He WILL show us, then help us change, and then they truly will be our greatest strengths. Sometimes it can be a shock to find that we have pride in a certain area but as we gain greater humility we will be so grateful that the Lord revealed it to us so that we can weed it out of our lives and become closer to him. These are also HUGE steps in overcoming depression. Ammon says,

"I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."
-Alma 26:10-12

(Scripture taken from Elder Scott's book, "Finding, Peace, Happiness, and Joy")